Peter Mannion
Peter Mannion MP is the current Secretary of State for Social Affairs and Citizenship. He is a member of the Conservative Party. Background Personal Mannion was born in 1958. He later married his wife, Tina Mannion in 1982. The two came close to divorcing in 1995 when it was revealed in the press that Mannion had been having an affair with a former researcher at DEFRA, who became pregnant. The two are implied to have moved past the incident, and it is mentioned that Mannion makes maintenance payments towards his illegitimate son. Professional Mannion is described as having been "around in the 80's", presumably having entered politics at some time before then. He describes himself as a "One Nation" conservative. In the mid 1990's, Mannion was appointed as a junior Minister for Fisheries in DEFRA, a position he resigned from after a sex scandal. Prior to the events of Series 3, Peter challenged JB in the leadership contest for the Conservative Party and lost. This resulted in him being appointed as Shadow Secretary of State for Social Affairs and Citizenship. Specials The Rise of the Nutters Mannion is introduced entering Opposition HQ in Gloucester House, Victoria Street, and meeting with his two advisers Phil Smith and Emma Messinger. Talking to Phil, he remarks on how the offices have been modernly redecorated and how he feels that in comparison to some of his other contemporaries he is fairly modern and liberal, despite being made to feel the opposite. He begrudgingly supports Phil's idea to start a departmental blog. He meets with Stewart Pearson, the new Opposition Director of Communications, who has been tasked by JB to try and modernise the party to appeal to the younger electorate. Pearson has him try on a new suit, with a striped shirt and no tie, something Mannion initially believes is a joke. Pearson then tries to get him to wear the shirt untucked, something both of them then agree looks ridiculous. The creation of the blog does not go down terribly well, with many people leaving hateful and abusing comments below the entries (one of whom is later revealed to be Ollie Reeder). In light of Ben Swain's interview bringing the topic of immigration to the forefront, Stewart Pearson has the group brainstorm ideas for what Mannion can do as the Shadow DoSAC Secretary. Emma Messinger suggests having him spend time working in an immigration centre (the "coalface" plan she stole from Ollie Reeder after he mentioned it to her). Pearson likes this idea, but Mannion is later infuriated when he is informed by Phil Smith that Emma stole the idea from the government. At the Immigration Centre in Watford, Mannion goes back to looking at his blog, where a new torrent of abuse has appeared in the comments section, including people calling him a holocaust denier and a cat rapist. Terri Coverley, who has been sent to the Immigration Centre by DoSAC overhears this and reports it back to the office. Back at Opposition HQ, Stewart Pearson shows him the front cover of the Daily Mirror, which sports the headline "PUFF DAY AT THE OFFICE?" over a candid photo of Mannion smoking a cigarette inside the centre. Mannion then reveals he found out that due to a problem with databases at the centre, illegal immigrants (sometimes even criminals) from candidate EU countries are able to swarm in, leaving those attempting to enter legitimately at a disadvantage. Pearson tells him to not use words such as "illegal" and "swarm". Mannion counters by arguing he has always been ahead of the party on the issue, and is actually supportive of legal immigration and its economic benefits. He criticises party leader JB, who with his "Eton clique" appear to seem progressive, but in private tell incredibly racist jokes to one another. Stewart dismisses these claims and tells him to issue some kind of announcement, but not a policy. Series 3 Series 4 At the start of series four, Mannion is now part of government within the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition, serving as the Secretary of State for Social Affairs and Citizenship alongside his junior minister Fergus Williams. Behind the scenes Peter Mannion was played by Roger Allam in The Thick of It Appearances * * * * * *"Episode 4.1"—''The Thick of It,'' Series Four *"Episode 4.3"—''The Thick of It,'' Series Four *"Episode 4.5"—''The Thick of It,'' Series Four *"Episode 4.6"—''The Thick of It,'' Series Four *"Episode 4.7"—''The Thick of It,'' Series Four External links *The Peter Mannion MP Blog Category:Characters Category:Conservative Party Category:Series 3 Category:Series 4 Category:Male Category:Politician